New Zealand aluminium door and window profile sector leader Architectural Profiles Limited is to invest more than $250 million in an expansion that will create a 57ha business and industrial estate near Cambridge.
APL, currently Hamilton-based, will over the next five years move into new buildings on 30ha of the estate, which will be the fast-growing Waipa district's biggest industrial development.
The project will include 5.5ha hub for quality visitor accommodation, conference centre, healthcare and childcare facilities, a research and development area and limited retail.
APL chief executive Craig Vincent said the company may sell the other 20ha of the project land or offer design and build development.
Waipa District Council cleared the way for the development which will border the Waikato Expressway by approving a private plan change for deferred industrial zone and rural zone land at Hautapu, on Cambridge's northern skirts.
The developer is Waipa local Mitch Plaw, a major shareholder of APL.
APL has operated from industrial sites in Hamilton since 1971.
Work on APL's part of the new estate will start soon with the company due to move part of its Hamilton operation there in 2020. APL will expand into the second stage starting 2021 when the central hub construction also gets underway. The final stage is likely to be released in 2024.
APL will ultimately employ about 460 people at Hautapu. The balance of the industrial development is expected to create 690 fulltime equivalent jobs.